TEAM NOTES
The alumni flag was carried by former BYU tight end and All-American Chris Smith (1987-90). The team flag was carried by junior wide receiver Nick Kurtz and the special teams flag was carried by sophomore defensive back Micah Hannemann.
Attendance: 56,393
Game captains against UConn were senior defensive end Bronson Kaufusi, sophomore defensive back Micah Hannemann and senior wide receiver Mitch Mathews.
With the victory, BYU earned its 300th program win at home in Provo. BYU's all-time record in Provo is 300-134-6 and 227-69 at LaVell Edwards Stadium. The Cougars improved to 52-11 under Bronco Mendenhall at home.
The BYU defense recorded seven tackles for loss, four sacks, two interceptions, two pass breakups and two quarterback hurries. It is the third game with at least seven tackles for loss this season. The Cougars are 44-2 since 2005 when notching at least three sacks in a game.
BYU’s defense has recorded two or more interceptions in three of five games this year, and at least one in four of five.
With 539 yards of total offense, the Cougars surpassed their season high of 511 at Nebraska. BYU also set season high in rushing with 174 yards on the ground.
The offense increased its efficiency with season highs of 95 plays, 31 first downs and nine third-down conversions. BYU was 9 of 16 on third down.
The Cougar offense had 283 total yards in the first half, second most in a half this season.
PLAYER NOTES
Tanner Mangum threw for over 300 yards for the second time this season on 35 of 53 passing for 365 yards through the air to go along with two touchdowns and two interceptions. His 365 passing yards set a BYU freshman record for most in a single game, surpassing Matt Berry’s 360 yards in a 35-31 win against Wyoming in 2002. Mangum’s 35 completions are a career high along with his 53 attempts.
Senior receiver Terenn Houk recorded career highs with six receptions and 129 receiving yards. He had 64 yards in the first quarter, eclipsing his previous career high of 59 set in the game against Nebraska. He is the fourth receiver this season to go for over 100 yards.
Senior wide receiver Mitch Mathews caught eight passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns for his second multi-touchdown game this season and fifth of his career. He is now 10th on the BYU career list for receiving touchdowns with 18. He has caught a pass in 29 games in a row.
Junior receiver Mitchell Juergens caught a career-high 10 passes for 74 yards. His previous career high was seven at California in 2014.
Junior running back Algernon Brown ran for a career-high 95 yards on 18 attempts, while also recording a career-long 34-yard run.
Freshman running back Francis Bernard scored the first touchdown of his career with a 1-yard carry for the first points of the game. He ended the game with 69 yards on 11 carries with a long of 19.
Senior defensive lineman Bronson Kaufusi notched his second sack of the season in the second quarter, finishing the game with three tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss and his second-career interception.
Junior linebacker Sae Tautu notched his first career sack on a third-and-long play for the Huskies’ second drive of the game. He totaled career highs with six total tackles, six solo stops and three tackles for loss.
QUOTES
BYU Quotes
Bronco Mendenhall | Presser Video
“I was proud of our team tonight and the resiliency that we showed. It was nice to have a good turnout from our crowd. The outcome was favorable, but ultimately we want to play at a higher level than we did tonight, especially in the critical moments in the blue zone.”
“I was pleased over all with our run defense this week. Overall, I thought we took another step forward. We are trying to gradually taking steps forward defensively, step by step, and eventually we desire to become a really strong defense. I liked the aggressive nature of our guys tonight, but we had a lot of penalties.”
On Francis Bernard:
“I really liked what I saw in Francis Bernard tonight as he ran the football. He’s a great addition to the rotation, considering the number of backs we’ve cycled through this year. We knew coming out of fall camp that he was a physical and talented player.”
“Kai and Bronson played the interception perfectly. If you had to name the breakthrough moment in the game, I think that was it. That play changed the momentum. Bronson is a great leader. He is a great player, and always plays hard. He has taken a significant jump from a year ago. Bronson and Taysom have a huge part to do with our team chemistry.”
On Tanner Mangum:
“I was really impressed with Tanner. I thought he did a nice job overall with decision making and throwing the football. It seems like when he is out there on the field, he is doing something special.”
Bronson Kaufusi | Presser Video: Kaufusi & Tautu
“Coach Mendenhall made a good defensive call. I just dropped back into coverage. The quarterback panicked and made a bad read, and ended up throwing me the ball. I was fortunate to be in that position.”
“This win is huge. It sets us up to have a great October. We will come back Monday and get better. Every week we’d like to improve. We need to stay healthy and take it one day at a time.”
Sae Tautu
“Coach Mendenhall called a great game. He made our job easy. We obviously didn’t play perfect, and I think we know what we need to fix, but overall, I thought we played well defensively.”
“Last week’s problem defensively was our communication, but this week we communicated much better. It made our job simpler, and we were able to make the adjustments we needed to.”​
Tanner Mangum | Presser Video: Mangum & Houk
On fourth quarter momentum:
"It was a fun experience to come out in the fourth quarter and score to get the house rocking. It all started with the defense. They deserve high credit for the win tonight as always."
On the offense:
"All night I felt like we were clicking. To be able to come back and stay strong without giving in felt good. Especially in the fourth quarter it felt good to finally have things click."
On winning at home:
"Any win is big. Its great to start into October and start our home stretch with a win is huge. Having the crowd behind us was great and having the team and our fans behind us motivates us to work harder and be better. This win is a good momentum builder and something we look to build on for next week.
On the defensive support:
"Tonight felt good. The defense was the MVP. All night they were making plays and making stops and getting turnovers."
Terenn Houk
On WR’s bouncing back:
“This game was a big opportunity for the entire wide receiver core to step up. It was a key opportunity and the entire group did a good job in each situation stepping up their game.”
On Preparation:
“We really worked this week on being physical, doing a lot of drills, watching film and working to get ready. The coaches made sure we were prepared.”
On long reception:
“I saw a huge space and I knew I just had to run into it. We wanted to give Tanner confidence and the only way to do that is to make catches. He threw it up and I knew it was my job to catch it.”
On the offense:
“Our system works, its our job to execute. We struggled at the beginning of the game but we hit our stride and dominated in the second half.“
Algernon Brown | Presser Video
On running game:
“Our O-line was fighting the whole game and they finally broke down the defense in the second half. It was fun to see Francis breaking runs up the middle. I was impressed seeing him make his cut-and-go moves.”
On breaking a longer run:
“It just felt like just another run in practice. I was just really happy to be back out with the guys and be motivating them.”
On the win:
“It was a hard fought game. I saw our O-line come off the field saying, ‘Lets go!’ and we fed off of them. It started with the O line, they were in it tonight."
UConn Quotes
Bob Diaco
"Tough loss. Everybody is hurting. But, we're going to move forward. We're going to get better and learn from our mistakes and improve, finish, and execute. We're going to close out games that are winnable."
On the personal foul kicking the ball out of the stadium: "That was a big play."
On the altitude change: "I don't think it's even a factor for teams coming here. I would say to most teams coming here to not even prepare for it."
"It was tough for the defense to be on the field that long. Anytime it's tilted like that it's hard. We need to make stops and get off the field better. The offense is going to take a little bit more time. BYU is a strong defense. You have to give credit to them. They played well. They're a good team."
"There was a two-minute span of a dog fight there where we have a chance to win the game. But it was two minutes there of a physical error, executive error and a mental error. The score isn't indicative of how the game went."
"We're a stronger football team now than we were at the beginning of September. We're learning what we're doing well and what needs to be eradicated from our game. The team is healthy and we're going to take this five-game stretch and use it to our benefit as we start conference play."
"BYU did a wonderful job. Coach Mendenhall is a great guy and he does a great job with his team. I like their program. I like how they play, especially on defense."
"The guys were executing the plan defensively. We felt good about it and it was working for the better part of four quarters. We just needed more offense. They're starting to groove. They're younger. The young men are trying so hard. We'll take it on ourselves. We'll just keep finding out what plays we execute well and we'll find ways to close out these games with wins. I'm proud of these guys."
"We felt good about our plan against BYU. It was working for the most part."
Jhavon Williams
"We put in so much time and effort into it and to not be successful and not come out victorious, it hurts."
Last quarter and a half:
"We just got to stick together and gel as a team. Now we’re going into conference play and that’s just the most important thing now, winning the conference. Going to a bowl game that’s the most important thing for us now too."
On his game:
"Honestly, I’m just trying to make plays to help my team and today we didn’t win so I’m hurting."
How to settle down after BYU’s big plays:
"Our coaches told us to play our defense and once the smoke clears, we’re going to be all right. That’s what we try to do."
What team can take away from a game like this:
"We take a lot of things from this game. Being able to gel and contain the final run. We depend on our brotherhood. We learn a lot from this game. Each game you can tell we get better and we got to continue from this."